Locked down on the ISS, in immersion on the Earth

Locked down on the ISS, in immersion on the Earth

The virtual reality cycling experience on board the ISS

(PRESS RELEASE) MONTPELLIER, France, 1-Apr-2021 — /EuropaWire/ — In an effort to improve the conditions of sports activities during manned flights, the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), in charge of the elaboration and implementation of the French space policy, wished to integrate the innovative experience of PERFORM VR, a young start-up based in Montpellier, France.

The French astronaut Thomas PESQUET will pedal in the streets of Paris as well as those of St Petersburg, and will climb the Gineste pass, thanks to a virtual reality technology developed by Fit Immersion.

Failing to become the next ISS astronaut, Fit immersion reveals the experience

This innovative solution specially migrated on the Oculus Quest headset will be tested by Thomas Pesquet, French astronaut of the ESA, during his daily sports and exercise sessions. Movement speed in the application will synchronize with the pedaling rate on CEVIS, the training bike of the ISS (International Space Station).

During 2020, zero-gravity parabolic flight tests have made it possible to develop a new solution allowing the use of a VR headset in the absence of gravity.

A true sensory and emotional experience, this digital concept will take astronauts to Earth through filmed pathways on the roads of the world.

Among the 15 routes available in the Fit Immersion application, 3 were chosen for this experience: the visit of Paris, the Gineste Pass (near Marseille, France) and the tourist visit of St Petersburg in Russia.

An original experience at the doors of fiction which offers a real potential of ubiquity. Fit Immersion offers everyone an immersive and totally connected sports adventure.

A start-up at the top of the innovation in terms of virtual reality.

Fit Immersion is the promise of sports at the frontiers of reality; an indoor training experience that allows you to be in the near-real conditions of the desired location thanks to its virtual reality sports kit.

Founded in 2017, PERFORM VR has developed this indoor cycling application based on 360° video. With the help of a virtual reality headset and a speed sensor, it is possible to ride through various places from its stationary bike. The application can also communicate directly with smart turbo trainers or bikes to provide a range of speed and difficulty levels. The user can thus teleport to many routes which are mostly filmed in 360°. Tourist routes (notably in Paris or Moscow), cycling routes such as the great Pyrenean passes, and even a few fantasy computer-generated routes such as the surface of the Moon are available in the library.

The acknowledgments

In the summer of 2020, collaboration with CNES has improved the immersion of this technology, particularly with the addition of sound ambiance in the application’s tracks.

“We would like to thank CNES for this unique experience during the development of this project. We are convinced that virtual reality has a predominant and central place in technological progress, including in spatial domain. The evolution of society, accelerated by the health crisis, leads to the growth of use of VR” concludes Dimitri PRIKHODKO, founder of Perform VR.

PRESS REMINDER

The next mission of an astronaut from the European Space Agency (ESA) to the International Space Station (ISS), called ALPHA, will be the second mission of the Frenchman Thomas PESQUET, who should fly to the ISS on April 22, 2021 for a 6-month mission.

Various industrial companies, laboratories and research organizations are involved with CNES and ESA in the development and exploitation of the results of the experiments that will be conducted in ISS by Thomas PESQUET.

Based in Toulouse within CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales), CADMOS (Centre d’Aide au Développement des Activités en Micropesanteur et des Opérations Spatiales) coordinates the preparation of the French scientific experiments linked to this ALPHA mission and ensures their follow-up in flight.

MEDIA CONTACT
Contact person: Dimitri Prikhodko
Contact mail: press@fitimmersion.com

Photos:

SOURCE: PERFORM VR